The nest nest knows how to plant fruit trees to make a nest

The empty nesting birds that live in the jungle of Australia and Papua New Guinea grow wild potatoes and use their fruit to decorate the tent that they have built, in order to increase the attractiveness of the female - this finding of the houses Science is published in Current Biology.

The birds of the 'tent' (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus) have a strategy of choosing the right partner to make a 'nest' of children. The males of this bird do not compete with each other in terms of external beauty and do not show the power to race to build a sturdest tent with branches and decorated with fresh flowers and colorful ornaments they find.

Choose ornament

The group of biologists led by Joah Madden, University of Exetera (UK) observed the behavior of Australian tentacles and analyzed the significance of each of their behaviors in populations living in Taunton National Park.

Маddеn and colleagues found in the surrounding areas where the nesting birds live have wild potato bushes (scientific name Solanum ellipticum). Not only beautiful flowers but the distinctive green color of the fruit is very attractive to this bird. On the other hand, they found that most of their nests in Taunton National Park were decorated with pretty wild potatoes.

Scientists have tried to discover the origin of these decorations - are the birds nesting tents to choose the location of the nest near the place where wild potatoes are grown or for other reasons. They tracked them throughout the summer thanks to hidden camcorders arranged at many locations of the national park.

The birds - the farm owner

It turns out that the empty nesting birds themselves 'grow' wild potatoes. First, they look for Solanum ellipticum potatoes to decorate the nest. When these fruits are ripe and rotten, they are thrown into the empty space near the nest, before spitting out other trees.

Biologists have found them to be elite breeders, knowing which fruits have the best ability to live near the nest, the worse the fruits are far away and take care of the plants every day until the results flowering.

In their article, they conclude: 'We believe that tent-nesting birds grow these plants consciously to beautify their nests for the deepest purpose, to have a good' wife '. . This is a very different behavior from other birds, even animals in preserving and developing their genetic resources'.